North Carolina
Florida
No. 4 Tar Heels Fall To No. 2 Florida, 5-2
February 12, 2011 | Women's Tennis
Feb. 12, 2011
CHAPEL HILL --- No. 4 North Carolina fell to No. 2 Florida, 5-2, Saturday at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The Gators won a tight doubles point with a tiebreak in the deciding match before taking four of six singles matches. Carolina falls to 5-1 on the season entering next weekend's ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va., while Florida improves to 6-0.
The Tar Heels got off to a hot start in doubles, with the No. 8 tandem of Shinann Featherston and Lauren McHale taking down top-ranked Allie Will and Sofie Oyen, 8-3, at the top position. After Lauren Embree and Jo Mather knocked off Jelena Durisic and Tessa Lyons on court two, No. 3 doubles was left to decide the point.
The match was tight throughout, and UF's Alexandra Cercone and Caroline Hitimana had a pair of match points at 7-8 to take the win. But Gina Suarez-Malaguti and Zoe De Bruycker spoiled the two match points and served out the game to force a tiebreak. Florida served for the match at 6-4, but once again the Tar Heel duo was up to the task. Ultimately it was the sixth match point for Florida that proved to be the winner, as Cercone and Hitimana prevailed, 9-8 (7).
UNC appeared to have weathered the storm of doubles and was leading in four of six singles matches after the first 45 minutes of play. But Cercone rallied to force a tiebreak on court six and registered the first singles win of the day, topping Haley Hemm, 7-6, 6-0.
No. 30 Mather made it 3-0 in favor of the Gators with another comeback victory, outlasting Suarez-Malaguti, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.
No. 86 McHale finally got Carolina on the board with a rally of her own, fighting back from a set down to beat No. 22 Olivia Janowicz, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. But the Gators were too much, and No. 7 Will's 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 13 De Bruycker clinched the dual for the visitors.
Featherston and Embree battled for over two hours on court two, with the Florida sophomore prevailing, 7-6, 7-5.
Durisic got Carolina the final point of the day, as the Torrance, Calif., senior held off No. 96 Oyen, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, on court three.
Next up for the Tar Heels is the ITA Team Indoor Championships, Feb. 18-21. The draw for that event is expected early next week.
No. 2 Florida 5, No. 4 North Carolina 2
Doubles
1. #8 Featherston/McHale (UNC) def. #1 Will/Oyen (UF), 8-3
2. Embree/Mather (UF) def. #80 Durisic/Lyons (UNC), 8-5
3. Cercone/Hitimana (UF) def. Suarez-Malaguti/De Bruycker (UNC), 9-8 (7)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3*
Singles
1. #7 Allie Will (UF) def. #13 Zoe De Bruycker (UNC), 6-4, 6-3
2. Lauren Embree (UF) def. #54 Shinann Featherston (UNC), 7-6, 7-5
3. #92 Jelena Durisic (UNC) def. #96 Sofie Oyen (UF), 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
4. #30 Joanna Mather (UF) def. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (UNC), 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
5. #86 Lauren McHale (UNC) def. #22 Olivia Janowicz (UF), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Alexandra Cercone (UF) def. Haley Hemm (UNC), 7-6, 6-0
Order of finish: 6, 4, 5, 1*, 2, 3
Players Mentioned
